1. Field of Invention:
This invention relates generally to extruded molding pieces or tracks which are attachable to a wall or other substrate to create a frame thereon for supporting a fabric panel, and more particularly to improved tracks for this purpose which make it possible to so anchor the fabric that its grain or decorative pattern is properly oriented to provide a high quality installation.
2. Status of Prior Art:
In my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. (Baslow 4,197,686; 4,018,260; 4,053,008 and 4,157,762), there is disclosed an easily-installed fabric wall covering system in which a frame is attached to the wall upon which one can stretch a fabric sheet to provide a smooth, attractive wall covering. This system, which uses extruded molding pieces or tracks to create the frame, makes it possible to cover the walls in any room with luxurious or decorative fabrics which reflect the taste of the householder.
One may, for example, choose a wall covering fabric to match the drapery in the room, or its furniture or bedspreads, or for that matter any other distinctive element of the room decor. The system disclosed in these patents opens up a new world of decorating options, for it does away with the tedious, tricky and difficult procedures as well as the high level of professional skill heretofore required to overlay walls with fabric sheets.
The extruded molding piece or track basic to this fabric wall covering system is constituted by a storage channel having a generally rectangular cross-section. The flat front face of the channel has an adhesive layer thereon, the back or base of the channel being extended beyond its rear or lower end to define an installation flange which is attachable by staples or other means to the wall.
The front or upper end of the channel is provided with an inclined inlet defined by dilatable jaws of resilient material. These are normally closed, but are separable by a stuffing tool having a curved blade. After the tracks are assembled and attached to the wall to create a frame along the perimeter of the wall surface to be covered, the margins of the sheet are pressed against an adhesive layer on the face of the tracks and the excess tails of the sheet extending beyond these margins are stuffed by the tool through the inlets into the storage channels.
When the stuffing tool is withdrawn, the inlet jaws clamp on the fabric tail and thereby serve to securely anchor the covering sheet to the wall. Because the channels can accommodate either short or long excess tails, it is not necessary to cut the fabric sheet exactly to size as in prior systems, for the installer is afforded leeway in this regard, which gives him a wide latitude of acceptable error.
One practical difficulty with a track of the type disclosed in my prior patents is that the adhesive layer on the flat face of the track will in some instances lack sufficient holding power to retain the margin of the fabric sheet against the track while the tail extending beyond the margin is being stuffed into the storage channel.
In practice, the fabric sheet is tensioned or stretched to provide a smooth, taut surface. If, therefore, one anchors the upper end of a fabric sheet to an upper track attached to the top end of the wall, and now wishes to anchor the lower end of the fabric to a lower track attached to the bottom end of the wall, it is first necessary to stretch the fabric and then press the lower margin thereof against the adhesive layer on the face of this lower track. The fabric sheet is now under tension, and this gives rise to a shearing force that seeks to detach the margin of the fabric which is not yet anchored from the adhesive layer on the face of the lower track. Because the face of the track is parallel to the fabric margin, it offers little drag resistance to this shearing force, and the margin may detach itself from the adhesive layer on the face.
Another problem encountered with my prior tracks is that when these tracks are stapled by their mounting flanges to a wall, the storage channel section above the mounting flange which lies against the wall remains unattached thereto. When, therefore, a fabric is anchored in this storage channel and is subjected to heavy tension, the tension may, in some instances, be sufficient to flex the storage channel away from the wall and thereby render the installation unacceptable.
Also, with existing tracks in which an adhesive layer is coated on the face thereof, it is difficult when the fabric to be anchored thereon has a distinct grain, as in the case of a plaid pattern formed by intersecting horizontal and vertical lines, or in woven fabrics having distinct warp and woof lines, to properly orient the fabric on the track so that the grain is not angled with respect to the longitudinal track axis. The reason for this difficulty is that when the fabric margin is pressed against the adhesive flat face of the track preparatory to stuffing the tail into the storage channel, one cannot then, if the fabric pattern is not properly oriented, readily shift the position of the fabric.